The Lonely Voice

Despite the constant criticism, despite the hate sent his way on a daily basis, despite the monstrous accusations, despite the interpretation of every move he makes in the most malevolent way possible, George W. Bush continues to try to shame the UN and the world into standing up and doing something about Iran and Darfur.

Bush, who arrives in New York on Monday, will meet with leaders from Iraq, France, Malaysia, El Salvador, Honduras and Tanzania, as well as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, before heading back to Washington on Wednesday.

The rhetorical centerpiece of Bush's visit to the UN General Assembly will be a speech on Tuesday defending his "freedom agenda" to spread democracy across the Muslim world as an antidote to the tensions that fuel terrorism.

But in public and private, he and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will press the case for sanctions against Iran, which Washington accuses of seeking nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian atomic program, aides say.

Amid European optimism that talks with Iran are making progress towards defusing the standoff, Bush warned US partners on Friday not to take pressure off the Islamic Republic, which he suggested was playing for time.

"My concern is that, you know, they'll stall; they'll try to wait us out," he said at a White House news conference. "So part of my objective in New York is to remind people that stalling shouldn't be allowed."

"They need to understand we're firm in our commitment and that if they try to drag their feet or, you know, get us to look the other way, that we won't do that," said Bush.

Asked whether he would consider meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the UN sidelines, Bush replied sternly: "No, I'm not going to meet with him."

"I have made it clear to the Iranian regime that we will sit down with the Iranians once they verifiably suspend their enrichment program, and I meant what I said," the US president said.

….

Asked to assess US-UN relations, Bush said he liked UN chief Annan personally but warned that many Americans were wary of the United Nations and that he shares that view when it comes to inaction over "genocide" in Darfur.

"I'm frustrated with the United Nations in regards to Darfur," the US president said in a wide-ranging 58-minute news conference Friday. "The United Nations hasn't acted."

The UN Security Council last month approved the deployment of a 20,000 UN force in Darfur to replace an African Union force, whose mandate expires on September 30. But the Sudanese government has refused to give its blessing.

A senior US official said Bush was not referring to a new proposal, but that he would make the case that "we don't see the government of Sudan having a veto power over whether the UN puts a peacekeeping force there or not."

The combined effects of war and famine in Darfur have left up to 300,000 people dead and displaced 2.5 million in three and half years of civil war pitting the government and allied militias against ethnic minority rebels.

Despite the raging anti-Americanism in the world, which existed long before Bush took office, despite the perfidy of putative allies like France, despite the Greek chorus of criticism from the left, his is the last, lonely voice trying to salvage some good out of the mess that the UN has become.

I also have no doubt his critics will continue to blame him despite the evidence of their own eyes.